51
There has been little dissention from agreement on this matter; apart, of course,
from certain followers of the earlier schools of legal thought who produced but faint
evidence to support their claims that scholars before al Imam al Shafi'i, like al Imam
Abu Yusuf of the Hanafi school, wrote about this important branch of the Shari'ah
sciences. (Ed.)

53
In his introduction to the translation of the Risalah,
Professor Majid Khadduri discusses the meaning of al Bayan,
and refers to the definitions propounded by the classical
jurists. Professor Khadduri writes:

"Some say that it merely means a declaration, embodying certain legal
provisions: others argue that it not only declares them, but also makes
them clear. Al Shafi'i, however; seems to emphasize the legal content of
the provisions on the grounds that all Quranic communications are clear,
'although some are more sharply clarified than others' and only to those
who are ignorant of the Arab tongue do some communications seem less
clear than others."

55
An edition of a section of Jassas's summary of this hook was published
in Pakistan by the Islamic Research Institute. The editor of that volume, however, mistakenly attributed the work directly to Abu Ja'far al Tahawi. (Ed)